


Second Meeting, First Impressions

by Zinzanzelf



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: A toast to our lovely and mature P5 couple!, Bonding with books, Cafe Leblanc (Persona 5), Cheese but my kind of cheese, F/M, Flashback is in present tense, Found a bond that lasted, Infinity by Lyn - best song to come out of P5A, JKQN, Look how far we've come, Present time is told in past tense, School on Saturday, Shujin Academy 3F Library, Weather: Sunny, You and I as one, ‘cause I’m weird like that?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-23
Updated: 2019-04-23
Packaged: 2020-01-24 11:18:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,905
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18570370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zinzanzelf/pseuds/Zinzanzelf
Summary: Before they knew each other by name, before they entered a partnership as leader and team strategist of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts, before the Fool forged a bond with the Priestess, they were just two faces in the hallway simply known by the trite labels slapped onto them. This is their second meeting.





	Second Meeting, First Impressions

**Author's Note:**

> ~Happy birthday Makoto Niijima!~
> 
> To think I initially did not like any of the characters due to how antagonistic they were towards the protagonist but after getting to know them and their true personalities, I’ve become surprisingly attached to all of them. I guess you can say the Phantom Thieves stole my heart.

**_4/23 - The Delinquent Transfer Student and The Diligent-looking Student’s Second Meeting_ **

* * *

 

The Delinquent Transfer Student ascends another flight of stairs, slightly out of breath. He finally manages to find the library again on the third floor.

He’s slowly becoming accustomed to the school. He knows the general spots to avoid during lunchtime, the quickest route to the classroom, when the vending machines are restocked, and that the best place to hold meetings is on the rooftop.

 

_Keep your head down and your nose clean. And don’t cause trouble for the teachers, you hear me?_

 

He sighs, hoping he’ll find some peace and quiet at the library. He slides the door open. The pleasant smell of old and weathered books greets him as he steps inside. Heads turn to see who it is then quickly turn away. The Student Librarian ducks behind the desk. He shuffles over to the shelves, selects a book, and looks for a place to sit. All the individual booths are occupied and he sees some people purposely shift their bags, their books, and their jackets over empty seats. They spread their study materials over their tables and hunker down over their homework, as if each one of them truly was the embodiment of a studious student. Others retreat between the bookshelves, hoping that the Delinquent Transfer Student would leave quickly. Light snoring can be heard in one of the corner booths. He spots an unoccupied round table and sits there. As he flips the book open to the first chapter, he hears students whispering around him and tries to ignore them.

 

“Hey, should we tell him?”

“No way, what if he tries to stab us? You tell him if you want.”

“No, you!”

“Ack! Here she comes!”

 

He keeps his eyes on the page in front of him and hears the girls scurry away. Then he hears someone with an even-tempered voice addressing him.

“Excuse me,” says the Diligent-looking Student. “I was here first.”

He raises his eyebrows. “Um.” He looks down. His hair falls over his face, obscuring his eyes. “Sorry. I didn’t know.”

 

“Ooh, the delinquent’s gonna get it now.”

“He’s crazy, right? What if he attacks her?”

“It’s her fault for snapping at him.”

“Psh, honor students. Think they’re above it all just ‘cause they score a _little_ higher than the rest of us.”

“Should we stop her?”

“Nah, the Student Council President can handle herself.”

“Yeah, she can just chase him away with those complex books she’s always reading.”

 

She glances at the boy in front of her. His eyes are stormy and he’s biting the inside of his mouth, as if he’s trying his best to block out the insensitive chatter around him. As if he knows anything he says to defend himself will treated as retaliation.

_Baseless rumors mindlessly absorbed by fickle people. Can’t they see it’s hurting him? ...Do they even care?_

She stands tall and glares. The whispers cease.

 _She’s_ the student council president? He realizes she’s the same girl he asked for help when looking for reference materials the first time he visited the library. She had crisply asked him not to bother her while she was studying unless it was important. He remembers but she does not. The Delinquent Transfer Student slips his book into his bag and prepares to leave. _So much for peace and quiet._

She holds out a hand. “Please, wait!”

He stops.

“Uh, I mean, I probably should have made it more obvious and left some of my things here but I thought I’d step out to take care of something quickly and --- what I’m trying to say is, you don’t have to leave. This table’s big enough for the two of us.”

She sees light return to his steel grey eyes as they meet hers. He smiles softly. “Thank you.”

Something stirs within her. His ‘thank you’. It was sincere and heartfelt. It was genuine. Then she frowns. _I know nothing about him. How should I know what his genuine ‘thank yous’ sound like? Why am I even analyzing him in the first place?_ But she cannot deny that’s how she feels.

The Delinquent Transfer Student sits back down and resumes his reading, trying to be as unobtrusive as possible.

“Hey, um.”

He shuts the book, keeping one finger in between the pages and looks at her.

“I apologize for interrupting you in the middle of reading but,” she says, gesturing at the table. “You can put your book on the table, if it’s more comfortable for you. Also, you can put your bag on one of the chairs so no one accidentally kicks it.” _Or on purpose._

“I’m fine.” he replies laconically. But he does slide his bag under his chair.

“Well, okay then. If you’re sure.”

The Delinquent Transfer Student flips open the book and continues where he left off.

The Diligent-looking Student arranges her things and begins reviewing her college exam prep book. She glances at him. The Delinquent Transfer Student isn’t studying; he’s reading for leisure. _Well,_ she thinks, _class is only a little more than a week in, so the workload isn’t much._

Unbeknownst to her, the Delinquent Transfer Student was given his third quiz of the year that morning, courtesy of Mr. Inui regarding Emperor Nero and the Olympics. He had answered confidently and correctly to the utter stupefaction of his classmates, including one Well-Behaved Student who was alarmingly bruised all over.

He turns the page of the book he’s reading, mouth slightly agape, clearly fascinated by the story within. She squints and tries to read the title but to no avail. She considers parallaxing like an owl to get a better angle, but thinks of how ridiculous she’d look and promptly gives up and focuses on her assignment.

The Delinquent Transfer Student peers at the Diligent-looking Student over the rim of his glasses. She has her books in a neat pile on one side, stacks of papers clipped together on the other. Her lips are pressed together in concentration as she meticulously writes the outline for an essay. Her eyes dart back and forth between the dense text and her handwritten notes.

 _Elegant. Studious. Her speech and conduct was polite yet cold. She appeared to have an invisible barrier around her that made her peers keep their distance. As if her status as the Student Council President and honor student placed her in that solitary position, caught in between the high expectations of the teachers and callousness of the student body. Yet she had earnestly called out to him, actually looked at him with those striking garnet eyes of hers, not as a criminal but as a fellow student._ This is what the Delinquent Transfer Student perceives as he watches her work. She raises her eyes in his direction but the Delinquent Transfer Student has already returned his attention to his book.

The Diligent-looking Student hears him shift in his seat. He props his book up and she’s able to read part of the title. It’s in English, subtitled with a translation. _‘The Gre-’_

The Delinquent Transfer Student looks up at her and she hastily looks down at her homework. She hears him laugh quietly. She’s a little red-faced that he caught her but she finds herself wanting to know what a full laugh of his sounds like. She dismisses the thought and once again forces herself to concentrate on her work.

Late afternoon becomes early evening.

The Delinquent Transfer Student rises from his seat and packs away his things.

The Diligent-looking Student pores over her textbooks in case she missed something from lecture. He walks over to where she sits. “Thanks for sharing your table with me.” He bows his head politely.

“No need to thank me. I, er, hope you made significant progress on your reading.”

He inclines his head again. “I did. Goodbye.”

“Um!”

He pauses. “Yes?”

“That book you were reading. What’s the name of it?”

He fishes it out of his bag and shows it to her. “‘The Great Thief’,” she reads. “I’ve never heard of it.”

She can’t help but smile at the fact that the alleged delinquent would be reading a book on thieves.

“It’s about a gentleman thief named Arsène Lupin who steals from the rich and powerful and gives to the poor and downtrodden. He’s very clever and outwits his adversaries again and again. And he always has something witty to say. I recommend it.”

“A thief with a strong sense of justice? That does sound like something I’d like to read.”

He can’t help but smile at the fact that the strait-laced student council president would be interested in a book about a criminal, albeit a chivalrous one.

“I should be done with it in about a week so maybe you can check it out after me.” He gives her a curt nod and walks to the front desk to check out the book.

She watches him go.

The rumors couldn’t possibly be true, could they?

_You must determine that for yourself. Observe, gather and compile evidence, then find your own answer._

 

***

 

“I don’t remember that.” Makoto tapped her pencil to her chin, mentally cycling through the events that transpired in back April. She had her study materials neatly arranged on the desk in Leblanc’s attic. Textbooks on one side, completed assignments on the other, her current assignment in front of her and of course, her trusty Buchimaru-kun pencil case.

“I really had my books and study materials spread out in this order?”

“Yep. Exactly like that.” said Ren, sweeping his hand out towards the desk.

“You have a really good memory.”

He sat up on the bed and crossed his legs. “I was flipping through some old entries in my journal and I guess watching you study made me randomly remember.”

“You wrote about me?” she asked, genuinely touched.

“Well, you were one of the few people who actually would talk to me. Everyone else just avoided me or treated me like I was a problem.”

“What else did you write?” She wanted to see his journal but felt a little nervous asking directly.

“Nothing much. Back then, I did it half-heartedly. So I wrote it like a boring activity log. 0800 hours - ate curry for breakfast. 1900 hours - flipped the store sign to ‘closed’. 2200 hours - went to bed. Things like that.” He fiddled with his bangs.

She frowned. “But I snubbed you, didn’t I?”

He shrugged and smiled. “Can’t blame you. We were strangers back then.”

“Still, I apologize.”

He rose from his bed and walked over to her.

“But you know, I’m glad.”

“For what?”

Ren took her hand with his bandaged hand, holding it close to his chest. “I’m glad our meeting didn’t just end there. That we’re able to talk like this. And that I’ve found someone I wholly trust.”

Makoto closed her eyes and slowly swayed her head. The feeling of being acknowledged, of being trusted overwhelmed her with gratitude towards Ren. “I- I should be the one saying that.” she whispered.

She stepped in between his bare feet. “I wonder,” she mused. “If we became acquainted sooner, how different things would have been? If...I hadn’t treated you guys like enemies. If I had properly talked with you.”

He tipped her chin up. “Who knows? But one thing’s for sure. I’d fall for you all the same.”

Makoto turned away, shy but happy. Then she gently stroked his face and over the woven bandages on his cheeks. “Let’s get you cleaned up.”

He smiled and laughed his quiet laugh that had become so dear and familiar to her.

“Thank you, Makoto.”

Ah. That feeling again. His ‘thank you’ that sounded so sincere to her back then and even more so, after knowing more about him. She remembered now. She smiled at the memory then at Ren. “You’re welcome.”

Makoto inspected his face. A week had passed since the interrogation and the swelling had gone down significantly. _Thank goodness._ She carefully traced the contours of his face and around his eyes with a salve-soaked swab.

“What about you?” he asked, quirking an eyebrow.

“Hmm? What about me?” she replied.

“If things were different back then, would you have fallen for me?”

“I-I don’t know.” She capped one of the ointment jars and opened another. “I mean, well, probably-”

He chuckled. “You’re so earnest, you know. It’s just a hypothetical question. I don’t mean anything by it.”

“Honestly,” she pouted. “You know I’m no good with these kinds of what-if questions. I’m usually more focused on present matters. And besides, you were serious when you said that. I can tell. I...I want to be able to respond in kind.”

He looked down sheepishly and folded his hands. “Mmm.” _She understood._

Then he took the ointment jar from her and put it aside. “Makoto. You can take it as slow as you need. If you think of your answer tomorrow, or next week, or even ten years from now, I’ll be waiting.”

“Ten years?” She laughed. “I promise I won’t make you wait that long.”

She lowered her eyelashes. “But…it’s just, I can’t imagine anyone else in your place. S-so, um...”

As her fingers twisted and stretched the gauze she was holding, her face became redder and redder with each second she spent trying to put her words together. Ren sighed contentedly and brought her head to rest in the crook of his neck and held her for a moment. “Yeah. It’s the same for me.”

Makoto closed her eyes, listening to his elevated pulse. She ran her hand along his upper arm and gripped the sleeve of his zippered hoodie. “Okay. All that’s left is covering the cuts and bruises on your face and then we’re done.”

***

“Hey, did you ever- ow.”

“Hold still, please.” She turned his chin in one direction as she applied a bandage.

“-read ‘The Great Thief’?”

She finished dressing his wounds and smoothed out the bandages’ creases. “Oh, I haven’t had a chance...but I will. It’s on my list.”

Ren grinned. “Yeah, okay, we’re dropping everything and reading it now.” He grabbed her forearm and spun her, holding her tightly, his chest pressing against her back.

“What--- **REN**!”

He tipped backwards, landing them both on the bed and laughed till he was breathless. Makoto was stunned for a moment before laughter bubbled up inside her and spilled out. Why, oh why was his laugh so contagious?

A week ago, she couldn’t touch him without causing him pain. A week ago, she was fighting back the tears as she tended to his bruised and battered body with trembling hands. A week ago, Ren was falling in and out of consciousness, delirious from the truth serum and an untold mixture of drugs the corrupt officers pumped into him. He had fought to regain control of his body and his mind and only a couple nights prior, was able to sleep without need for pain medication. And now, here he was, laughing carefree and unrestrained with his arms around her. It made her want to cheer and laugh and cry at the same time. She nuzzled his neck and bumped the top of her head under his chin. His breath caught for an instant before he nuzzled back.

With a grunt, he sat both of them up. Makoto felt his abdominals ripple and coil against her back. She now sat comfortably between his legs, both of their knees hooked over the edge of the bed. He kept one arm wrapped around her waist as he reached back and pulled the novel from behind his pillow.

She giggled. “We’re really doing this now?”

“Why not? You and I have some free time and it’d be risky for me to be outside in public. This will be time well spent; you won’t regret it. I promise.”

She opened the novel to the table of contents. Ren leaned forward and turned the page to the first chapter. He spoke against her ear, his breath warming her cheek making her gasp softly.

“So, I’ll be Arsène Lupin and the other characters and you can be the narrator who might also be Lupin.”

“Eh?”

“See, he’s a master of disguise so you don’t know who he is in the story until the end. The book’s full of little twists like that.”

She squeezed his arm. “How intriguing. It’s like you’re trying to solve the mystery of each character’s identity while they’re trying solve the mystery of the crime.”

“That’s the idea. The best part? You’ll never see it coming.”

They began. She giggled again as he used his smooth Joker voice to bring the dashing, witty Lupin to life. Makoto could see the original Gentlemen Thief’s influence on the way Joker boldly carried himself with panache and ardor. They quickly developed an unspoken rule where whoever read the last paragraph at the end of the page would turn to the next part. When their feet got cold, they moved back against the wall where it was warmer and Ren duveted them in a thick, fluffy comforter.

 

_So this is where the concept of a “phantom thief” originated from, huh? Although, I suppose now, I didn’t have to read this book if I wanted to know the mannerisms and virtues of the “gentleman thief”._

_After all, I already know an extraordinary Gentleman Thief._

 

**Author's Note:**

> Author's Notes/Ramblings:
> 
> -This story stemmed from a Reddit post that pointed out LOOK WHO YOU CAN MEET AT THE LIBRARY AT THE BEGINNING OF THE GAME!! Yep. Definitely no one important. Which led me to imagine what their first interactions would be like. I imagine the conversations would be distant and reserved between the reticent Ren and the prim and proper Makoto, but there would also be an initial, undeniable attraction.
> 
> -Addressing them by their labels returned me to the dreary tone at beginning of the school year where you were shunned as an outcast and no one gave you a chance. What if we only knew our beloved characters simply by their titles? How would that change our perception of them? 
> 
> -If you visit the library in April, you’ll notice there are two school bags on the chairs where the Diligent-looking Student sits in the library. Perhaps she was sharing her table with someone?
> 
> -It would suck if some jerk “accidentally” kicked Ren’s school bag. Poor Mona!
> 
>  
> 
> -Infinity>>>Dark Sun>Break In to Break Out>Autonomy
> 
> -[Infinity ED](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmM6rErDz4Y)
> 
> -Where I first heard the term “parallaxing” and decided to use it in this story: https://www.featheredphotography.com/blog/2013/02/09/juvenile-burrowing-owl-parallaxing/ 
> 
> -True Facts About the Owl - skip to 0:34 and pretend you’re an owl bobbing its head up and down/parallax and feel ridiculous about yourself: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeFxdkaFzRA


End file.
